Chinese movies cement control of China box office

Reporting from beijing —  Chinese films nearly swept the country’s box office last week, after getting sidelined earlier this month by American blockbusters.

The Chinese-Hong Kong fantasy saga “A Chinese Odyssey: Part Three” topped the list for the second week in a row, according to film industry consulting firm Artisan Gateway.

Directed by Jeffrey Lau and produced by Chunqiu Shidai, the movie loosely follows the epic Chinese novel “Journey to the West.” It dropped to $13.3 million after mixed reviews and a previous opening week of $37.7 million, which included a two-day holiday for China’s Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Hong Kong action-thriller “Z Storm II,” a Zhejiang Huace production that pulled in $10.5 million for a total of $28.5 million, held onto second place.

The Chinese romantic comedy “Soul Mate” crept past the Chinese murder-thriller “Cock and Bull.” The first, a Shanghai Jike Media movie, grossed $10.5 million; the latter, a Jiangsu Zhongnan Film production, brought in $6.7 million.

Warner Bros.’ computer-animated comedy “Storks” was the lone American movie to earn a Top 5 spot. The 3-D buddy film, about the adventures of a stork courier company that segues from baby delivery to postal service, drew $5.3 million in its opening weekend.

For the first time since its Sept. 2 debut, “Star Trek Beyond” didn’t make the list of top grossing movies. The movie so far has earned $66 million in China.

Nicole Liu in the Times’ Beijing bureau contributed to this report.

UPDATES:

1:35 p.m. Sept. 27: This article was updated with new earnings for “Star Trek Beyond.”

This article was originally published at 2:50 p.m. Sept. 26.